A Plan To Improve Social Climate On Campus

Faced with a slide in national ranking and a growing party reputation, Trinity College plans to transform its social climate, including forcing fraternities and sororities to go coed.

The decision on Greek life has thrust Trinity President James F. Jones Jr. and the board of trustees into the center of a firestorm of protest and petitions from sorority and fraternity members and alumni, with some threatening to withhold donations.

"In the end, it's really about taking a look and saying, 'What should be the ideal environment in which students develop intellectually and as human beings?'" said Trinity Dean of Students Frederick Alford. "We are a residential college. We believe learning and development takes place everywhere."

The decision to change Greek life and to make other reforms that will expand alternative social opportunities on campus was made after a period of self-reflection and study at Trinity that turned up some alarming trends.

Alford said administrators were concerned last year about a spike in the number of students taken to the hospital for drinking- and drug-related problems. Trinity was also developing a reputation as a party school on social media.

Meanwhile, the quality of applicants to Trinity has been declining and top students were transferring because they were unhappy with the social scene and with a lack of academic seriousness among students.

Schools that Trinity compares itself to — Amherst, Middlebury and Colby — have eliminated fraternities and sororities. On the Trinity campus, fraternity and sorority members say they are being unfairly scapegoated and worry that the plan is the start of a campaign to abolish Greek life.

"It's like we've been thrown under the bus," said Amalia Nicholas, president of Kappa Kappa Gamma.

As with many Greek organizations, her sorority will lose its national charter if it admits men. Without a national charter, the leaders say, the groups will lose an important part of their tradition and national support.

Even if her sorority continued as a club without a national tie, Nicholas said, she doubts it could meet the school's coed requirements: "There really is no man who wants to be part of a female organization."

Drinking, Drugs and Risky Behavior

A report issued earlier this fall by a special "charter committee" paints a disturbing picture of life at Trinity: Students are drinking and taking drugs at a greater rate than in the past and the problem is "far more severe among members of fraternities and sororities."

A year ago, the trustees appointed the committee — which consists of administrators, trustees, faculty, alumni and students — to assess the social climate and come up with recommendations to improve it.

"High levels of drinking, not surprisingly, have led to high rates of risky behaviors among our students, including both members of fraternities and sororities and unaffiliated students," the report said, "such as blacking out, drunk driving, assaults, fights, harassment, ambulance transports and sexual assault."

Alford, a member of the committee, noted that "drinking and social excesses" are concerns on all college campuses and at Trinity they do not involve the majority of students. About 18 percent of students are in fraternities or sororities, but the report said, those students "appear to wield a disproportionate influence on campus culture."

In addition, the report said, "with higher levels of drinking come lower grades," pointing to an analysis that showed that fraternity and sorority members have lower grades than the average Trinity student.

Alford said the committee considered abolishing the Greek system, but decided instead to try to preserve its positive aspects and take steps to try to tamp down "behavior that is of concern."

Besides requiring the Greek groups to go coed, the committee's recommendations — approved in October by the board of trustees — included the banning of a pledge period and a requirement that a group's collective grade point average be 3.2 or better.

The coed requirement will also ensure that anyone — man or woman — has a chance to become part of a group that plays a large part on campus. "We thought everybody should have equal access to it," Alford said. "... Everybody ought to have a crack at it when you walk onto campus."

Ending A Culture Linked To Privilege

The impetus to make significant change at Trinity was drawn from a controversial "white paper" written last year by Jones. He wrote urgently of his fears for the future viability of the school if steps aren't taken to ensure that it is offering a distinct and unique educational experience that is worth the hefty annual price tag of almost $58,000 for tuition, room and board.